Page 54 of Safe
Once I found Danielle, the plan would be straightforward: she could either cooperate and leave with me, or I’d resort to force, killing Alex and anyone else she cared about until she complied.
A few hours later, I landed, and Gonzalez picked me up. We drove to a nearby parking lot, where he left me with the car. I sat for a moment, refining the rest of my plan. I needed a few more supplies to prepare for Danielle’s inevitable arrival at the house, so I went to a nearby Walmart.
Trying to be inconspicuous, I purchased groceries along with items like rope and duct tape, which I still thought might raise suspicions on their own. I added a cheap camping tent to further justify those purchases. I also picked up a hunting knife, figuring it would be useful given Danielle’s stubborn nature. When the cart looked like any other last-minute camping supply run, I made my way to the register.
“Oh, going camping?” The cashier began ringing up my items. Worked like a fucking charm.
“Yeah, I love desert camping.”
This dumb bitch.
I paid in cash, grabbed my shit, and left, turning the GPS on to head toward the property.
The house was ideal. It was hidden up a dirt road and set far back from the street at the end of a long driveway. No one would notice my comings and goings.
The windows were boarded, and weeds climbed the walls like the place had been left behind for good. I wedged the hunting knife into the doorframe and popped the door open.
“Holy shit, this place is a dump,” I muttered, surveying the main foyer.
While it would suffice for the time being, staying here long-term seemed less appealing. Dust and debris were everywhere, something I'd need to tolerate until Danielle became compliant. Flipping the light switch confirmed the lack of power, an issue I’d have to tackle later.
I made a mental note to pick up more "camping supplies," like flashlights and camping lamps.
Upstairs, I checked out the bedrooms. There were four, and luckily, three still had furniture. The first room at the top of the stairs had a wrought iron daybed and a small dresser with a cracked mirror. It would be easy to keep Danielle in there, using the bed's structure and some rope.
I found the master bedroom—my room—and dropped my bag on the bed, heading to the bathroom to check the water. The pipes clattered before spewing brown water, but it eventually ran clear.
“Thank fuck,” I whispered to myself, checking one more issue off the list.
I went back downstairs, grabbed the groceries, and headed to the kitchen, relieved to find a gas stove instead of electric. With water and a way to cook, I had some breathing room to figure out a better long-term plan. As I was about toput the groceries in the refrigerator, I remembered there was no electricity, so a cooler needed to be added to my list of supplies.
Returning to the store, I picked up a cooler, some ice, camping lamps, flashlights, and a new doorknob and deadbolt for the front door. Within an hour, I had the food on ice, clothes in our rooms, and a new lock in place. Now, the house was ours, for however long it took to break Danielle.
I slumped onto the dusty, torn couch in the living room, lighting a camping lamp and a cigarette as I contemplated my next steps.
All I had was the address of the convenience store and the hope that Danielle hadn’t just passed through. If this place was a stopover, I was fucked. Everything depended on this being her location and Alex not figuring out that she had used her card and moving her.
I entered the convenience store's address into my phone, scoping out nearby alleys, parking lots, and anywhere I could blend into the surrounding area to ensure I had a way to stake out the location.
The closer I got to Danielle, the weight of everything I had done started to settle in. I was so far down this hole, there didn’t seem to be any way to escape what was bound to unfold.
Memories of Danielle’s laughter and the moments we shared before everything went wrong wouldn’t stop creeping in, distracting me from the plan, and clashing with the anger that fueled my desire to keep her. She was going to betray me, and she was going to fucking pay for it.
But could I really bring myself to go through with it?
The plan seemed airtight, yet an obnoxious fucking uncertainty lingered. What if I could convince her to just… come back? I crushed the cigarette in frustration, questioning if avenging my pride was worth sacrificing everything.
The silence of the abandoned house was suffocating. It was time to leave and put the plan in motion. If things went wrong, there’d be no escaping this alive. I needed to see this through, but the cost seemed higher with each passing hour.
27. CODY
Sprinting through an abandoned zoo made me feel like the biggest fool on Earth. I knew that telling her the truth might mean losing her, but my love and respect for Danielle wouldn’t allow me to lie to her any longer. I had hoped that honesty might convince her to stay, but who was I kidding? I knew the trauma she had. I knew all the horrible things that had been done to her. I knew how fragile her ability to trust was. And the reality was that the truth made it look like I was only there for the money. Never mind the fact that, even if I had told Alex to stop paying me, he wouldn’t have. Never mind the fact that I didn’t even want the money in the first place. None of that mattered if she wouldn’t even let me explain.
I was almost at her side when she leapt into the car, leaving me stranded in the zoo, five hours from where we were staying. Breathless and defeated, I stopped, hands on my knees, and watched the taillights fade into the distance. An ache of desperation stabbed my chest, and she was unknowingly holding the knife.
A few seconds passed before I remembered Danielle didn’t know Landon was coming after her, and I had the cell phone. I pulled it out without a second thought about just how pissed Alex would be and called him. He was going to be more than pissed, but that didn’t matter; Danielle did.
“Why are you calling me? Aren’t you on some stupid fucking date with my sister?” Alex's voice was drowning in irritation.
